Entertaining But Unnecessary “Gladiator II” Arrives Amidst Film Industry Uncertainty
Gladiator II starring the great Denzel Washington (Training Day) is a film whose themes will resonate with audiences. With the Roman Empire as its backdrop, it is a story about the triumph of the individual against the many forces who oppose him. It warns against the dangers of corrupt authoritarian regimes. It exults the dignity of the common people and the virtues of republican rule. The forces of good triumph over evil, tried and true.
The movie has awesome gladiator action and other exciting displays of aestheticized violence. You will not be disappointed if you crave blood and combat from this long-awaited sequel to the 2000 Best Picture winner. Fans of Washington will also be pleased to find another exceptional performance as Macrinus, a former gladiator with influence among the Roman elite who schemes to seize power for himself. However, despite being quite entertaining, it is still an undistinguished work. Like other sequels, it will likely never live up to its predecessor, which has become a ubiquitous popular culture institution. Thus, those themes that helped make the first film such a classic are not as impactful as they could be in Gladiator II.
The film focuses on Lucius (the Oscar-nominated Paul Mescal, Aftersun), now an adult, one of the few characters to survive the original movie. Like Russell Crowe’s Maximus, he is enslaved and forced to train as a gladiator while plotting his revenge. This time, the targets of vengeance are Acacius (Pedro Pascal, The Mandalorian), a general who conquered his home and killed his wife, and the imperial Roman state, headed by the depraved emperor brothers Geta and Caracalla (Joseph Quinn and Fred Hetchinger, respectively). Lucius proves himself to be a fierce fighter. He battles his way to the Coliseum in Rome, where his exploits stir the people’s enthusiasm, reviving hope for a restored Republic.
The movie awkwardly attaches itself to its predecessor and retells the same basic story. There is nothing fresh and there are few surprises. There are a couple of things that save the film from complete mediocrity. The first is Washington’s flamboyant, Golden Globe-nominated performance. The second is returning director Ridley Scott (Alien, Black Hawk Down), who ensures this unnecessary sequel is skillfully made and as decadent as the Roman Empire. It is one of the better of the so-called legacy sequels, wherein a sequel is released after a lengthy gap between its predecessors. It is more exciting than Twisters, more memorable than Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, and is vastly superior to the disappointing Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
Gladiator II also arrives at a strange time in the movie business. The box office still finds fierce competition from streamers. Despite more releases, the 2024 total box office gross is lower than last year’s total. It is still billions of dollars below the 2018 all-time high. In the face of market uncertainty, Hollywood continues to rely heavily on established intellectual property and sequels. However, even once-reliable cash cows like the Mission: Impossible and Indiana Jones films are showing signs of drying up.
Instead of uninspired sequels and overdone comic book adaptations, Hollywood should continue to look for inspiration in other places. The hit thriller Conclave was based on a bestselling novel and harkens to the not-so-distant past when Hollywood would make smart, mature films based on popular literature. Audiences also responded positively to Bob Marley: One Love and Oppenheimer, showing that biopics of interesting real-life individuals can sell many tickets. Horror satire The Substance made audiences laugh and gag while grossing over $78 million at the box office, showing that filmgoers have an appetite for fresh and risky original stories. May these successes cause a shift in the types of stories Hollywood decides to tell. We could have more films like legal drama playing at cinemas like Juror #2, which was unfairly relegated to streaming, instead of disposable filler like Despicable Me 4.
Sequels in movies are nothing new. Films like Gladiator II will always exist. If these types of films are inevitable, let us hope they allow Hollywood to invest in new, original storytelling that provokes audiences to return to cinemas.